Baptist Health Announces the Development of the Margaret and Robert Hill Breast Center
Dedicated Breast Center Will Provide Comprehensive, Expanded Services

Jacksonville, Florida, September 29, 2009 -- Baptist Health's vision to create a regional destination breast center -- one that provides quick and convenient access to a full range of comprehensive care -- is coming to fruition. Work begins this fall on the Margaret and Robert Hill Breast Center, which is expected to open in late summer 2010 with expanded, centralized services.

"The Breast Center is the culmination of a vision of many people within Baptist Health to provide our community with comprehensive breast health services in a convenient, comfortable setting that promotes wellness and healing," says Hugh Greene, president and CEO, Baptist Health.

The Hill Breast Center will encompass more than 22,000 square feet of the Baptist Outpatient Center on San Marco Boulevard. It will replace the current Breast Health Services location in 7,000 square feet of the Baptist Pavilion within the Baptist Medical Center Downtown campus.

The additional space will place all non-surgical breast health services under one roof, with more equipment and more exam rooms.

"We want to offer the best possible care to our community, and this will be one of the largest breast centers in the world," says Christine Granfield, MD, director of Mammography at Baptist Medical Center. "We're excited about offering a healthy environment where we can help women get and stay well."

The Hill Breast Center will offer a comprehensive approach to breast health, including an educational component, and exercise activities such as yoga that are proven to contribute to good breast health. Genetic counseling to help them make informed decisions about their breast health also will be housed within the Center. It will be a comfortable environment with a soothing ambiance, offering music, television and movies for patients’ convenience.

Centralized breast services will allow for more communication between physicians and staff who provide breast health services, thus improving the quality of care. Postitron Emission Mammography (PET scan), as well as other imaging tools such as MRI and ultrasound, will be conveniently located at the Hill Breast Center. Physicians can use PET scans to detect lesions smaller than one centimeter in size.

The benefits for patients and their families will be quick, comprehensive and comfortable service, says Linda Allen, director of Women's Imaging Services.

"This will be the most comprehensive center in the Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia region," Allen says.

The Hill Breast Center will be the hub for the innovative model implemented in 2006 which created much faster, more convenient access to mammography for patients. Under this model, women can receive their routine, annual screening mammogram at any of the four Baptist Health hospitals and the digital images are transmitted to the hub, where Baptist Health mammography experts work as a team to interpret the results.

The 10 to 15 percent of women who require more specific diagnostic mammography imaging will come to the Hill Breast Center for further evaluation. At the center, patients can receive a diagnostic mammogram, ultrasound and core biopsy on the same day.

The new Hill Breast Center will also greatly reduce the amount of time that patients spend in pre-surgical testing and preparation on their day of surgery, while their loved ones can wait nearby in comfortable surroundings.

Margaret and Robert Hill Jr. provided a generous donation toward the new center.

"Margaret and I see this as a tremendous opportunity to benefit the community," says Robert Hill, Jr. "This breast center will bring together world-class resources and help save lives throughout our region."